FC United once again failed to beat the Bradford bogey as they let an early lead slip to end up being thrashed 4-1 in West Yorkshire on Wednesday night.

Winger Chris Ovington got the Reds off to the perfect start on his return to the Horsfall Stadium with a goal inside eight minutes but Dominic Riordan equalised for the hosts within 60 seconds before Tom Greaves put a hat-trick past Sam Ashton in the last 15 minutes of the game.

The match started brightly for the Reds who were on the attack within the first minute when Jerome Wright was fouled right on the edge of the box. The free-kick was headed behind by a BPA defender. From the resulting corner, Mike Norton just failed to make contact with a header.

FC looked to be playing with confidence and took the lead through former BPA player Ovington, who beat the offside trap to run into the box and slot the ball into the corner of the net. Sadly this lead lasted just 60 seconds as a BPA ball into the box was weakly punched out by the recalled Ashton. The ball dropped at the feet of Riordan who fired into the net.

A greater concern for United was goalkeeper Ashton who took a knock in the build up to the goal and was down for some eight minutes whilst he received treatment. Thankfully, with no substitute ‘keeper on the bench, he was okay to continue.

FC United didn’t seem to let the setback of conceding and equaliser get them down as they continued to attack with Wright getting on the end of a long ball forward and beating the keeper only to see the ball go wide of the post. Norton was also guilty of mis-kicking a good chance with the goal at his mercy.

There was a let off for the Reds halfway through the first half, when the home side had a goal ruled out. Riordan powered a header into the goal but the referee saw a push on an FC defender. So at half-time it was all square and all to play for with both sides pretty evenly matched.

The second half began poorly from both sides, with not much football on show and no goalmouth action until the 64th minute when Bradford substitue Marc Smith headed the ball over the bar. With 15 minutes to go, BPA took the lead when Facey broke down the right and drill in a cross for Greaves to blast into the net from close range.

This goal woke FC United up a little and they finally started to create a couple of chances with Ovington shooting straight at the keeper and Richard Battersby unlucky to see a shot deflected wide. But in all honesty, these were just token efforts as the Reds didn’t look anything like a genuine attacking force in the second 45 minutes.

The lead was increased on 86 minutes when Greaves got the better of a tangle with Jacobs, turned and fired a low shot past Ashton at his near post and the Reds’ misery was compounded with two minutes to go when Greaves burst through the middle to fire home and complete his hat-trick.

So yet again, FC United fail to beat BPA and if truth be told, they might not get a better chance at the Horsfall Stadium. BPA looked for much of the game a shadow of the team we have played in the past but sadly FC United were poor in the second half and were made to pay for a lacklustre performance.

Report by Steven Wood

Match Report

FC United once again failed to beat the Bradford bogey as they let an early lead slip to end up being thrashed 4-1 in West Yorkshire on Wednesday night.

Winger Chris Ovington got the Reds off to the perfect start on his return to the Horsfall Stadium with a goal inside eight minutes but Dominic Riordan equalised for the hosts within 60 seconds before Tom Greaves put a hat-trick past Sam Ashton in the last 15 minutes of the game.

The match started brightly for the Reds who were on the attack within the first minute when Jerome Wright was fouled right on the edge of the box. The free-kick was headed behind by a BPA defender. From the resulting corner, Mike Norton just failed to make contact with a header.

FC looked to be playing with confidence and took the lead through former BPA player Ovington, who beat the offside trap to run into the box and slot the ball into the corner of the net. Sadly this lead lasted just 60 seconds as a BPA ball into the box was weakly punched out by the recalled Ashton. The ball dropped at the feet of Riordan who fired into the net.

A greater concern for United was goalkeeper Ashton who took a knock in the build up to the goal and was down for some eight minutes whilst he received treatment. Thankfully, with no substitute ‘keeper on the bench, he was okay to continue.

FC United didn’t seem to let the setback of conceding and equaliser get them down as they continued to attack with Wright getting on the end of a long ball forward and beating the keeper only to see the ball go wide of the post. Norton was also guilty of mis-kicking a good chance with the goal at his mercy.

There was a let off for the Reds halfway through the first half, when the home side had a goal ruled out. Riordan powered a header into the goal but the referee saw a push on an FC defender. So at half-time it was all square and all to play for with both sides pretty evenly matched.

The second half began poorly from both sides, with not much football on show and no goalmouth action until the 64th minute when Bradford substitue Marc Smith headed the ball over the bar. With 15 minutes to go, BPA took the lead when Facey broke down the right and drill in a cross for Greaves to blast into the net from close range.

This goal woke FC United up a little and they finally started to create a couple of chances with Ovington shooting straight at the keeper and Richard Battersby unlucky to see a shot deflected wide. But in all honesty, these were just token efforts as the Reds didn’t look anything like a genuine attacking force in the second 45 minutes.

The lead was increased on 86 minutes when Greaves got the better of a tangle with Jacobs, turned and fired a low shot past Ashton at his near post and the Reds’ misery was compounded with two minutes to go when Greaves burst through the middle to fire home and complete his hat-trick.

So yet again, FC United fail to beat BPA and if truth be told, they might not get a better chance at the Horsfall Stadium. BPA looked for much of the game a shadow of the team we have played in the past but sadly FC United were poor in the second half and were made to pay for a lacklustre performance.